Today is Epiphany, which occurs on the church calendar annually on the sixth day of January. Epiphany is the designated day for the Christian community to celebrate the birth of Jesus as the coming of God’s glory and light into the world; and like the morning dawn, driving away the darkness of sin, loneliness, and despair.
Epiphany should be celebrated as a glorious day of worship in which to thank and praise God for His gift of redeeming grace and glorious light to a people and a world wrapped in the darkness of sin as described by Isaiah. “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:2).
Throughout the scriptures, God’s glory is likened to the light of the sun. The glory of God is beyond human comprehension. Light, brighter than the light of the sun, is as close as we can come to describing the shining glory of God’s redeeming presence.
In John’s vision of Jesus, recorded in Revelation 1:13-16, he describes the glory of Jesus – “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”
The analogy of light, as representative of the glory of God, links us to what the apostle John says about Jesus Christ – “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (Jn.1:4-5).
In the same Gospel account, Jesus declares himself to be light – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).
When Isaiah invites us to walk in the light of the Lord, and the apostle Paul challenges us to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, the imagery is sharply vivid. Without the presence of God in our life, there is nothing but darkness and death. Jesus brought God’s light and life into the world and only as we open our lives to his Lordship do we experience that awesome, transforming, life-giving light.
The first creative word God spoke into being was, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” Being the Almighty Lord, God can and did light up an entire universe. But there is one little corner of His grand creation that even with all His infinite power He cannot reach and transform from darkness to light without our help. Do you know or can you guess that corner?
It is the darkness in the human heart. We must first open the door for God’s light to shine in and radiate out from our life. And Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Rev. 3:20). God will not force His way into our lives.
Many who name themselves “Christian” have only partially opened the door to God’s light and seem to think it is enough to live in the shadows, being neither exposed to the full darkness of worldly evil nor the full light of God’s glory.
Those who adopt such half-hearted faith are neither challenged in life nor satisfied with life. They have just enough “religion” to make them miserable. Biblical wisdom would warn us that such attempts to find satisfaction by living in the shadows, submitting only some of one’s life to the lordship of Jesus, is futile.
God calls us to come out of darkness, out of the shadows of strangled commitment and diminished enthusiasm, to walk in His glorious transforming light of amazing love and joy in fellowship with Him. “I am the light of the world. Whosoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).
I am confident I speak God’s heart when I say to you, “Enter into this new year of 2023 with confident faith, believing Christ’s new world of redeeming light, hope, love, peace, joy and life has dawned upon us and is being brought to complete fulfillment as the glorious eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ.”
Let us pray; O star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light. AMEN!
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 6, 2023
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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